Up to 26 dead as Syria regime, rebels trade fire: reports

DAMASCUS, SYRIA- Government and rebel bombardment killed up to 26 civilians and wounded dozens in the Syrian capital and a nearby opposition bastion on Wednesday, state media and a monitoring group said.
Mortar rounds fired from the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region onto residential areas of Damascus left eight civilians dead and 23 wounded, the official SANA news agency reported.

The attack came after the regime fired rockets onto the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma earlier in the day, killing six civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor. The monitor gave a slightly different toll of nine dead and 30 wounded, some critically, in the bombardment of Damascus. Ten other civilians, including a child, were later killed in government air strikes on the town of Hazzeh and one in Mesraba, east of the capital, the Observatory said. Eastern Ghouta, which is largely controlled by the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group, is regularly bombarded by government forces. More than 260,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------